Extracts from Animal Control Records
Obtained through 'Right to Know' request
- “Mr. XXX was rude on the phone. I told him that he could not trap on nights or weekends because we only have one truck that needs to be reserved for emergencies, he indicated that he would trap whenever he wanted to…”
- “Trapped on 10/28/15, fed for a few days, left town for 2 days, dead on 11/1 when returned. Did not call until 11/3. Said she was doing a public service by getting rid of raccoons. Unconcerned since ‘we were going to kill it anyway.’”
- “9/23/15: Set trap 9/18, out of town until 9/22, came back to town, animal was alive but did not call until 9/23. Animal DOA.”
2/17/16- hadn't checked trap in over 16 overnight hours, temps in the teens overnight. Resident said he didn't know he had to check the weather. Animal DOA”
- “Traps feral cats and raccoons. Has open unused garage, refuses to clean up, mailed info but he said he wouldn't read it…”
- “Has own trap - won't stop trapping, location heavily wooded and less than 500 ft from cemetery”
- “Coming from abandoned house; owns own trap, said he has been trapping for years”
Left trap out while on vacation; possum and babies died in trap.”
- “Groundhog left in trap for a week. Barely alive – only because neighbor fed it”
- “14 traps on property”
- “2 warnings. 6/18/15, trapped again, mailed app and all packets, 6/19/15, trapped again, called 911 and falsely reported raccoon in house”
Lets animals die; continuing to trap after-hours and weekends.”
- “Groundhog nearly dead when arrived.”
- “Left animal in trap for 2 days, trapping off property.”
- “Trapped after hours. Groundhog DOA.”
Trapplication Quotes
The following are all “reasons” provided by residents requesting a trap during a brief period in 2015 when justification was required before a trap would be provided. These are all situations that could be resolved by taking simple measures to remove attractants or prevent wildlife access. Under the current system, once again, no justification of actual risk or damage is required. A trap will be dropped off and picked up by Animal Control, and the animal trapped (in the case of raccoons, groundhogs, skunks) will be killed, regardless of whether it was the animal the resident originally called about and regardless of whether it actually “did” anything.
- “My neighbor leaves trash out all the time and there is a bunch of raccoons around.”
- “My backyard is Riverview Park and raccoons come up from there and cause damage to my house, scare my cats and eat their food, dump over my garbage cans and scatter the garbage. Last year I caught 9 raccoons with my have-a-heart trap.”(leaving pet food outside at night is a major wildlife attractant. It’s hard to imagine Riverview Park raccoons not taking advantage of this free nightly buffet…)
- “Baby groundhogs are frequenting my yard. They are sunbathing on my furniture.”(use of creative scare tactics such as mylar balloons, spraying with water guns… would probably resolve this situation easily)
- “Two young groundhogs are attempting to tunnel under my pool.”(lay down hardware cloth around the pool and cover with earth or mulch to prevent burrowing)
- “Groundhogs are destroying our garden, eating all of our vegetables due to our close proximity to the cemetery. This morning I also found an adult raccoon in the trap we purchased and you picked it up quickly. Thanks so much, I suspect we will be calling you again!” (apparently the trapped raccoon hadn’t done anything “wrong” since the resident didn’t even know it was around. A vegetable garden next to a cemetery could probably use a wildlife-proof fence, since otherwise it looks like taxpayers will be footing a big bill)
- “Threat of rabies by wild animals in neighborhood.” (this resident is one of many who believe that most wild animals carry rabies and will not be satisfied until there are no wild animals in the neighborhood, which is an impossible scenario)
- “I have a vegetable garden.” (only justification provided)
- “To get rid of them.” (only justification provided)